CEI is working with the National Council of Social Services in Singapore (NCSS) on the "Back to Basics" project, which is designed to improve the productivity of therapists in the disability sector through introduction of IT systems that improve processes. This is intended to support the sector to meet the rising demand for social services in Singapore. The aim is to deliver breakthrough and sustainable improvements that will boost productivity in the disability sector.
As Singaporeans of all abilities live longer lives the demand for therapy and social services will continue to rise. Lengthy training and supervision requirements mean that new therapists are not entering the social service sector at a rate to keep pace with increasing demand however. In an attempt to address this issue, particularly within the disability sector, the Ministry of Social and Family Development has also launched the 'Therapy Hubs' initiative. Therapy Hubs employ a central pool of therapists who can be deployed to organisations on a contractual basis. Despite the inherent benefits of this approach, the shortfall in therapists remains a concern.
CEI and collaborators have provided support designed to: (i) improve therapists' on- the-job productivity through process improvement, job redesign, and technology adoption, and (ii) improve and automate therapy hub processes, so that they can better serve other social service organisations for their growing needs. CEI is also conducting an evaluation of the efficiency impact of these changes.